Sick Child
by Klutzygirl33
Summary: Future fic. Seven year old Molly Sherwood comes down with a cold, so Frank and Denise take care of their daughter.


**Disclaimer**: I don't own Army Wives and never will. No copyright infringement intended.

**Author's Note**: I can't wait for the finale tomorrow! It looks so awesome! The wait for season five is going to be long, but it'll be okay. I'll just write more fics to deal with the hiatus. Also written for the schmoop_bingo prompt _cuddling while sick_.

* * *

Denise Sherwood wasn't surprised when her seven year old daughter came home from school sick. Molly got sick a lot because of her classmates.

"Mommy, I don't feel so good," the seven year old complained. To prove her point, she crumpled up her nose and sneezed multiple times.

"I know you don't, Baby." Denise felt her forehead, and when it was hot to the touch, she got out a thermometer to take her daughter's temperature. It read 100.7 degrees Fahrenheit. While it wasn't too high, Molly definitely had a fever.

"When's Daddy coming home?" Molly was a Daddy's Girl through and through, and everyone knew it. She was also spoiled rotten by older brother Jeremy.

Denise checked her watch. "He should be home in about two and a half hours. Come on, let's give you some medicine. You'll also need to take a bath so you can feel better."

"Mommy, I don't wanna take medicine! It's so gross! Please, Mommy. No medicine!" Molly hated medicine. It always made her feel horrible.

"Sorry, Molly. You have to take your medicine. You know that. It'll make you feel better. I promise." Denise hated taking medicine herself, but she wasn't about to tell her daughter that.

"Mommy, I don't want medicine! I hate it! You can't make me!" the seven year old tried. She was stubborn.

"Molly Caroline Sherwood, don't whine. You have to take this medicine. And I'm sorry about that, but you know I don't like it when you whine," Denise scolded. Molly was usually a well-behaved child, but she turned into a problem child when she was sick.

Molly glared at her mother for a few minutes before she reluctantly followed her into the kitchen. Denise handed her the cup of medicine and Molly unwillingly drank it. "Bath now?" the miserable little girl questioned.

Denise nodded. "Yup, bath time. But you'll be feel a lot better. Won't that be nice?" She smiled at her daughter, hoping Molly wouldn't throw a tantrum. That happened very rarely. However seven year olds, especially sick seven year olds, were a wild card.

Denise drew up a bath and let Molly stay in there for half an hour before draining the water. She let Molly get into pajamas and then tucked her into bed. "I don't wanna nap, Mommy. Daddy's going to be home soon!"

"If you nap, Daddy will be home sooner, Baby. And that bath made you feel better, so why wouldn't a nap?" Denise checked her watch again. Frank would be coming home from work pretty soon.

"If I feel better, can I go play with Stella?" Stella was Molly's best friend. She was also Roxy and Trevor's five year old daughter.

"I'll think about it, Baby." Denise doubted it, though. When Molly got sick, she was down for the count for several days. She had no reason to think otherwise this time around.

"Kay. Night, Mommy." Molly closed her eyes and went to sleep. Denise went out in the kitchen to start preparing dinner.

Frank got home around 6:00. Molly was still sleeping, but Denise planned on waking her up soon. Otherwise, they'd be up all night dealing with a sick and wired seven year old. "Where's Molly?" Frank asked.

Denise sighed. "She's sick, so I gave her medicine and she's napping." She smiled at her husband, walked over to him, and kissed Frank. They made out for a few minutes.

"I love you, Dee," Frank whispered when they pulled apart. He couldn't imagine life without her or their two children.

"I love you too." Denise sighed and then walked into her daughter's room to wake Molly up. "Come on, sweetie."

A bleary eyed Molly looked up at her and slowly got out of bed. "Hi, Daddy," she mumbled when she saw her father.

"Hi, Baby. Mommy says you're sick." Frank couldn't stand it when either one of his children were sick or hurt.

Molly nodded. "I don't feel so good." She just wanted to go back to bed, but that wasn't going to happen for another few hours.

"Are you hungry, Molly? Dinner's ready." Denise had just finished cooking dinner, but she was unsure if her daughter even had an appetite.

Molly sighed. "I'm not hungry." She didn't feel like eating anything right now. That didn't surprise Denise or Frank, but they still worried.

Denise still decided to give her a cup of water for liquids and then went to check her temperature again. "101.6. Her temperature's climbing, but it's not too bad. If it gets worse, she's going to the doctor's," she told Frank.

"That sounds good to me. I don't like it when my Molly's sick." Frank got his plate from the kitchen and began eating next to Molly on the couch. Denise joined the two a few minutes later, and the three Sherwoods watched cartoons the rest of the night.

At 10:00, Denise decided that Molly had been up late enough and that her sick daughter had to go to bed. "Come on, Molly. It's time to go to sleep."

"Can I sleep with you and Daddy?" Molly was miserable and she didn't want to be alone. She wanted her parents. And Jeremy, but he lived in his own house and probably couldn't come over and see her.

"Of course you can, Baby Girl," Frank promised. He took Molly's hand and the three Sherwoods went to bed. Molly got in the middle of the bed.

Denise smiled at her husband from her side of the bed. "I love you," she mouthed to him and leaned down and started cuddling Molly.

"I love you, too, Dee," Frank mouthed back. Like Denise, he also cuddled his daughter. The three Sherwoods fell asleep

Five days later, Molly still wasn't getting any better. In fact, she was getting worse. The seven year old was now coughing and shaking from the chills of the fever. The fever kept going up and down.

At 3:00 in the morning, Molly shook her mother awake. She was coughing up a storm and crying. "Mommy, I really don't feel good."

Denise turned on the light and immediately guessed something was really wrong. Her daughter was pale. "Frank, get the pot," she ordered.

Frank and Denise kept an old pot around for when one of them got really sick and couldn't make it to the bathroom. And Denise had a feeling her daughter couldn't make it to the bathroom. Sure enough, she was right.

"My stomach hurts," Molly complained once she was done. She was completely and utterly miserable. Denise had taken her to the doctor three days earlier, and the pediatrician had just told them Molly had a common cold.

Denise felt her forehead and then looked up at her husband in fear. "She's burning up, Frank." She searched for the thermometer.

"What's her temp?" Frank asked. He had a feeling it was pretty high, and they were about to make a hospital trip. He turned out to be right.

"It's really high. Frank, we need to take her to the emergency room. Should we call for an ambulance or drive her?" Denise stood up to put some clothes on.

"We'll drive her." Frank cleaned his daughter up, bundled her up in warmer clothes, and carried her to the car. Denise sat in the back seat with Molly. They arrived at the hospital rather quickly.

Molly was admitted to the hospital pretty quickly because of the fever and vomiting. "Can you tell us what's wrong with our little girl?" Denise was panicking. She was in the medicine field, but it was different when it came to her own children.

The doctor had a diagnosis for the Sherwoods a few hours after Molly was admitted. "Your daughter has pneumonia. She should be fine with some antibiotics. I'd like to keep Molly overnight for observation," the pediatrician informed Frank and Denise.

Denise sighed in relief. Her daughter was really sick, but at least she'd get better with the antibiotics. "Thank you so much, Doctor."

"We should call Jeremy," Frank told Denise once the doctor left. Molly was sleeping again, and hopefully she would stay that way for a little while.

"Good idea. I'll be right back." She kissed her daughter on the forehead and went out to the emergency room entrance. It was 4:30 in the morning, but that didn't matter. Jeremy would want to know what was going on with his sister.

"What's wrong?" was Jeremy' s greeting when he picked up the phone. He knew his sister was sick. Had something happened to Molly?

"Sorry to call you so early, Jeremy. Molly has pneumonia. She woke up a few hours with a high temperature and was throwing up. We took her to the emergency room. She's fine now, but she still has to stay here for a day or so." Denise was close to breaking down. She couldn't believe Molly had gotten this bad.

"I'll be there as soon as I can," Jeremy promised. His sister was the most important person in his life after his parents.

"You don't have to come, Jeremy." Denise knew it was futile, however. Jeremy spoiled Molly rotten. Their friends had often claimed that he an amazing big brother, and she and Frank agreed with that assessment.

Jeremy arrived at hospital within half an hour. Molly was still sleeping, but the Sherwoods knew she'd be happy to see her big brother.

At 9:00AM, Denise called her friends to inform them where they were, and not to worry. Molly was already starting to improve, although not by much.

"Jer Jer, I don't like the hospital," Molly complained to her brother. Her voice was hoarse, and Denise and Frank winced.

"I know you don't, Princess. But as soon as you're out of here and feeling better, we'll have a movie day. You 'd like that wouldn't you?" Jeremy smiled at the seven year old.

Molly nodded. "It's fun." Movie nights with Jeremy consisted of watching movies and pigging out on junk food. It was a Molly and Jeremy thing only, and nobody was allowed to interrupt them.

She continued to improve, and Molly was released from the hospital the next day. Molly was still feeling horrible, but her fever was down and she was no longer throwing up.

This wouldn't be the last time Molly Sherwood was going to be sick, but it was one of the scariest moments of the Sherwoods' lives anyway.

As long as they had each other, nothing was going to be so horrible it couldn't be fixed.

The Sherwoods were a really close family.


End file.
